Quad LP/Tape Poll Alpert, Herb, & The Tijuana Brass: Greatest Hits [Q8]

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Rate Herb's TJB Greatest Hits


  • Total voters
    11

EMB

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Since 2002/2003
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Interesting(to say the least)entry from Herb & the boys, kind of surprised it was issued at all, really. But hey, we took what we could get, which wasn't nearly enough, as you know...so:

1. The Lonely Bull
2. Whipped Cream
3. America
4. Love Potion #9
5. Never On Sunday
6. Mexican Shuffle

7. A Taste Of Honey
8. Tijuana Taxi
9. South Of The Border
10. Spanish Flea
11. Getting Sentimental Over You
12. Zorba The Greek
 

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timbre4 said:
Cute in an odd way; familiar classics in a 3 track haze with occasional improvements

I agree, good way to state it.

I have very fond memories of Herb Alpert's music because i was in high school at the time it was popular, and i played trumpet. So i have played most of the songs on this album, not near as well as Herb {Ha Ha}, but it sure was fun to try. So i rated this Q8 higher than the others have, mostly for the music. The Quad mix was a strange one, but i just listened to it again last night, and it does sound beter than just stereo. Not a totaly fake surround mix. Some songs are mixed better than others. I like it. :)
 
Well, the problem in terms of quad is that you're probably dealing, at best, with 3-track source tapes. When I get back up north in a few months, I'm going to bring back some Q8's to refresh my memory, and this will be one of them. What I do remember is that "The Lonely Bull" was pretty hopeless, because there is no source except the stereo tape! For one thing, the original 1962 hit single version is on one side of the 'stereo' mix, with Herb doing a new trumpet part in the other, thus creating a stereo version. But the only version of the single is mono-only, it was mixed to mono and no multitrack tape was kept(presumably recorded on the cheap). That's also true of "Acapulco 1922," the flip side of the hit, that too was 'contrived' stereo, while the balance of THE LONELY BULL album was reasonably decent 3-track, from what I can make out. So there was really nothing to do with that quad mix beyond leaving the stereo up front intact and leaving ambience and some front sounds in the rears. The alternative would have been to record yet other parts to add on to make a 'faux quad' version, but I guess Herb didn't want to be that dishonest, or didn't care...:D

ED :)
 
Very non, unfortunately, and tapes they could have utilized to decent effect, as we know, weren't used at all, apparently....

ED :)
 
Ed,
It is A&M. For a company that seemed to try and have it's act together, it was not at times. The quad mixes on A&M are indicator of the mess. There are different mixes on several of these. Carole King Music is an example. I had about 4 of these and only 1 had the real mix, the others were fake. Tbrass were the same. I have a great hits that is OK. When ya look at the files they are very different. Not saying that mix is spectacular, but it is discrete, percussion eminating from rear right many cuts. The Carole King is very evident. Bob and I have been working on reels for the most part, but i will be sending him some titles here this week and i will try and get him both those, see what he thinks.
 
I also noticed that the few songs that overlap this Q8 and the Whipped Cream Q8 have completely different mixes. A Taste of Honey on the GH seems to be just a widened stereo version, but on WC, it's definitely from the three-track with drums widened in the rear (with some front bleed) and the fronts have Herb's trumpet(s) one side and guitars/additional horns on the other. It's a much better mix compared to the GH version.
 
Ed,
It is A&M. For a company that seemed to try and have it's act together, it was not at times. The quad mixes on A&M are indicator of the mess. There are different mixes on several of these. Carole King Music is an example. I had about 4 of these and only 1 had the real mix, the others were fake. Tbrass were the same. I have a great hits that is OK. When ya look at the files they are very different. Not saying that mix is spectacular, but it is discrete, percussion eminating from rear right many cuts. The Carole King is very evident. Bob and I have been working on reels for the most part, but i will be sending him some titles here this week and i will try and get him both those, see what he thinks.

So what we have are different mixes being issued for different albums (or even titles)...something that I suspect did NOT happen often (if at all) at WEA, CBS or RCA, where there was actually some logic and quality control.

Do hope we get to hear better versions of the CK and TJB titles in the near future. Despite the inherent limitations of the latter, the music is too good to deserve such (at times) crappy mixes.

ED :)
 
Thanks, Linda...and time for a change, Judy was getting a little 'long in the tooth'...and that Moody Blues cover, IMO, actually comes off better small than full-size (if you study it closely it becomes almost laughable in its excesses...:D

ED :)
 
Perhaps you read my Judy Collins story in another thread. When my Daughter was 8, we went to see her. Judy asked her to sit on the piano bench while she sang and played. Sadly, we didn't have a camera with us. A cherished memory of a wonderful woman!

Saw the Moodies live a couple years ago at the Chicago Theater.
 
LOVE your Avatar Linda - I completely agree that it's a 'non-mix'. However, "Tijuana Taxi' always gets played loud whenever we have a party and I'll admit I always dig the mix more after several beers :brew
 
Thanks, inquadwetrust, LOVE your moniker.

Tijuana Taxi is a classic TJB track. If you want one album that distills TJB's best, this is it. Since the Quad is a poor mix, get it on CD or on the Canadian A&M Audiophile vinyl. Yes, I know I've blasphemed here.

Herb would rank in my Top 5 all-time artists and I own nearly 20,000 albums. Check out his later jazz-fusion stuff. If you want a great 5.1 mix with great fidelity, get his Passion Dance on DTS 5.1 CD. Don't expect a TJB album, 'cause this is very different.

I met Herb at few of his concerts. Of the hundreds of musicians I've met, Herb is one of the nicest. At Park West in Chicago, he took requests. Some guy yelled out, "Girl From Ipanema." Herb replied, "I think you have me confused with someone else (Stan Getz.)" Being that I was in the first row, I chided him, "come on Herb, you know you did that one!" Herb then asked me, "which album?" I fired back, "South of the Border." No, Herb didn't do The Girl From Anemia that night.

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LOVE your Avatar Linda - I completely agree that it's a 'non-mix'. However, "Tijuana Taxi' always gets played loud whenever we have a party and I'll admit I always dig the mix more after several beers :brew
 
There's a really nice recent podcast of Herb being interviewed by Alec Baldwin on his "Here's The Thing" show. Easily googleable. He has a lot of stories to tell.
 
I have the LP, cassette, 8-track, CD, reel-to-reel, and Q8 of this release. I guess I need to listen to all of them closely to hear any differences.

However....

A lot of the LPs I own of Herb and the TJB are mono - and they all sound flat, as in off-key. The stereo versions are all ok and the speed of my turntable check out ok. I wonder if any of you out there have noticed this on various recordings you own - and yes, I own all of the TJB LPs so I am comparing them to the Greatest Hits.
 
From my experience, the 7 1/2 ips reels of the TJB albums are the best. When they released this album, the reels were 7 1/2 ips. Is yours? All the 3 3/4 prerecorded reels I've heard sound crappy. 7 1/2's usually trump the CD & LP.

I've heard cassettes of several TJB albums, which were mastered in the early '70's. I own stereo and mono LP's of them, as well as CD's. I haven't noticed the anomaly which you described. The only TJB 8 tracks I've heard are this and Whipped Cream Q8's, both of which I own. A&M LP's were pressed by Columbia until '75. A&M tapes had various duplicators throughout those years.

I have the LP, cassette, 8-track, CD, reel-to-reel, and Q8 of this release. I guess I need to listen to all of them closely to hear any differences.

However....

A lot of the LPs I own of Herb and the TJB are mono - and they all sound flat, as in off-key. The stereo versions are all ok and the speed of my turntable check out ok. I wonder if any of you out there have noticed this on various recordings you own - and yes, I own all of the TJB LPs so I am comparing them to the Greatest Hits.
 
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